Rana Haddad: Born in 1966 in Beirut, Lebanon. After having studied at the Architectural Association in London, Rana moved back to Lebanon. In 1997 Rana Haddad, Pierre Hage-Boutros, Interior Designer and Gregory Bouchakjian, Art Historian, founded the workshop Atelier de Recherche within ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts). She has taught at the AA, London; at the Lebanese American University and is currently teaching at the American University of Beirut and ALBA. Independent projects include a house in an olive tree field, a photographer’s studio and a duplex-flat. At DBLU office - founded with Pierre Hage Boutros - she collaborated on several projects, including a flat for an architect, a dental clinic and a Celine-shop. Rana lives and works in Antélias, Lebanon.
Pierre Hage-Boutros: Born in 1954 in Alexandria, Egypt. Studied at the Institut National des Beaux Arts, Lebanon with a year at ENSAD, Paris. In 1996 Pierre Hage-Boutros, Rana Haddad, Architect and Gregory Bouchakjian, Art Historian, founded the workshop Atelier de Recherche within ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts). He has been practising as interior designer and product designer since 1980. Independent projects include several apartments, offices, shops, a bridge club and a night club. He has been teaching at the Faculté des Beaux Arts of the Université Saint-Esprit, Kaslik, Lebanon since 1984 and at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts since 1990. At DBLU office - founded with Hanna definiert. in 1997 - he collaborated on several projects, including an architect’s apartment, a dental clinic and a Céline-boutique. Pierre lives and works in Lebanon.
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Since 1995 the workshop started looking for places on the edge, similar to our condition: a B-Movie from1965, a building on the greenline, names of places, the Théâtre de Beyrouth, the Corniche. Each place became an instrument, a trigger allowing, not only to unfold our city’s myth but also to go beyond nostalgia in redefining Beirut. Each one of these places is too tiny to be taken into consideration compared to the whole but by getting closer, its singularities tell more about the whole and its structure.
What drove us towards such practice is that most people, even today, cannot identify with the new city center; the edge condition is growing wider to become a hole. As for the war years, they are an imposed amnesia, and the new generation in Lebanon is dwelling on clichés of other people’s memories: a missing link.
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